Many human activities generate debris and waste of a wide variety of kind. The management of waste through collection and disposal has increasingly become of concern to many cultures not only from a standpoint of living condition esthetics, but more importantly for hygienic reasons.
Not only is the disposal of waste generated by humans of concern to the hygienic environment, but also the collection and removal of animal refuse, particularly that refuse generated by pets. For example, dogs and cats are common domestic companions of many persons; removal of these animal's fecal material is necessary for a sanitary environment. Such fecal material may be deposited by the pet in both designated toilet areas for the animal and in more public areas when the animal is either allowed to roam free or is walked by its owners.
Indeed, many communities have enacted regulations requiring pet owners to collect the fecal material from their animals when the animals are taken on ambulatory excursions so that the unsanitary fecal material is removed from the public areas. Deposit of such fecal material occurs, naturally, since the animals are relatively uninhibited by their toilet habits in public places.
The collection and disposal of animal refuse is also of concern in private dwellings. Should the animal utilize a private lawn or even a designated "run" as a toilet location, the presence of the fecal material creates a non-hygienic situation, especially should those areas be used as play areas for children. Should the fecal material reside in such areas even for a short duration, such presence attracts undesired insects, such as flies and the like which further exacerbates the unsanitary conditions. Indeed, the fecal material itself can pose a problem should parasites be present therein.
For these reasons, sanitary conditions demand that fecal material be regularly removed from the animal's toilet area. This is true whether the toilet area is in a designated area, such as a dog run or cat litter box, or whether the area is an open area such as a lawn, sidewalk, pathway, etc.
Many people find the collection of animal excrement to be unpleasant and, if undertaken improperly, such collection can be unhealthy. Accordingly, many persons resort either to protective gloves while collecting fecal material or to the use of implements to accomplish this task. In the case of cat litter, many persons employ a slotted scoop which allows the user to remove fecal material from the litter box while the particular litter falls through the slots in the scoop for reuse. Other persons employ such items as dust pans or other implements to clean up after their dogs, for example, when the dogs defecate in public or on private areas.
Considering the magnitude of this problem, it is surprising that there are few commercial products currently available for the efficacious removal of animal refuse. Accordingly, there has been a significant and long felt need for improved devices that provide a sanitary solution to this problem. There has been a further need for such devices that reduce the unpleasantness of this necessary task.